Symbolism Thesaurus Entry: Pride

Every day we interact with objects, places and sensations that affect the way we think and feel. This can be used to the writer's advantage by planting symbols in the reader's path to reinforce a specific message, feeling or idea.

Look at the setting and the character's state of mind, and then think about what you want the reader to see. Is there a descriptive symbol or two that works naturally within the scene to help foreshadow an event or theme, or create insight into the character's emotional plight?

A freshly washed or waxed car
A parent with her well-groomed/dressed children
Awards, trophies, medals, ribbons
Flags
T-shirts bearing team names and slogans
School Jackets
Displaying items with a designer logo or brand
A mother holding her newborn

These are just a few examples of things one might associate with Pride. Some are more powerful than others. A screaming crowd cheering for their school football team is a strong symbol, and likely will not require reinforcement. However, a single tree growing straight and tall may not foreshadow Pride on its own. Let the story's tone decide if one strong symbol or several smaller ones work the best.

11 comments:

As I pondered this post, I realized how important viewpoint is in symbols. For instance, letter jackets are a symbol of accomplishment, status, belonging to the elite to many people, but to others they are seen as conformist, arrogant, elitist.

A great list! I was a little surprised there were so few symbols in nature, but I certainly can't think of any more. Everytime I thought I had, it turned out to be a fantasy creature - dragon, phoenix, griffin ... :blush:

What a great post! I loved this. It really is neat to see how all of us interpret words. If you grabbed six people and put them in a different room and asked them what Pride meant, I'm sure you'd get six completely different answers.

I would have never thought about animals, such a lion being the leader of the Pride but with a football game and all of us cheering for support, pride is on the brain!